The Bears didn’t pray after a crushing loss to the Cardinals.

So much for rallying troops in the face of adversity.

The Bears headed into the desert and it literally rained on their parade back from Hail Mary Pass as the Cardinals dominated them from midway through the second quarter on Sunday, losing 29-9.

It was a loss of sorts, leaving legitimate questions about the team, the coaching staff and even GM Ryan Poels’ role in all of this. The Cardinals (5-4), like the Commanders last week, are a team that fired coaches and began rebuilding long before the Bears started theirs, but they are better teams.

“We have to circle around, we have to do a really good job of staying on our toes,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “It’s what you do when times get tough.”

It’s unfavorable, yes. Instead of putting all the heat on Tyreke Stevenson for one Hail Mary late in the game, now the entire team will soak up the heat after they go down.

Things started to calm down shortly after it started raining and hailing in the Phoenix area, which was a real oddity. Without the roof up, it even threatened to prevent the Bears from making a field goal. This was unfortunate considering they never got closer than the Arizona 11-yard line to attempt anything more than a field goal.

Soon after, the Bears watched as the Cardinals ran the game through their defense. James Conner rushed for 107 yards on 18 carries, Emari Demercado rushed for 59 yards and Trey Benson had 37 as the Cardinals rushed for 213 yards on the ground. They only needed 155 yards passing from Kyler Murray to win.

The blow came before halftime after Cairo Santos made field goals of 53 and 29 yards and another 53-yarder to cut the deficit to 14-9. With 26 seconds left in the half, the Cardinals moved the ball 17 yards and with 12 seconds left in the half, Eberflus called a blitz. Demercado carried a 53-yard pass from the right side.

“Their game was good,” defenseman Kevin Byard told reporters. “Apparently they caught us blitzing or something. He was able to get through the line intact or something like that. It was hard luck.”

Eberflus did not see this as bad luck.

“The score at the end of the half, in my opinion, is up to me,” Eberflus said. “I called pass protection, pass pressure, and they ended up getting the ball. This is where I can make a better answer.”

“It’s my fault. I believe our run defense needs improvement.”

It was like a tire puncture.

“You don’t want to give up something like that at the end of the half,” linebacker TJ Edwards told reporters.

They did it late in the game last week, this time in the bottom of the inning.

A 21-9 halftime deficit sent the Bears down the stretch, and the offense never got past the Cardinals’ 40 in the second half.

The Arizona offense, which scored on a 2-yard run by Trey McBride and a 1-yard run by Trey Benson in the first half, simply bullied the Bears defense throughout the second half. Added field goals of 29 and 55 yards from Chad Ryland, then a safety on a cut block in the end zone after the play got out of hand.

Williams struggled 22 of 41 for 217 yards and was sacked six times. He was hit late in the game and then again in the final game and limped off the field.

Why their franchise quarterback played the game’s final 29-9 run while absorbing hits with right tackle Darnell Wright leaving the game with a knee injury while left tackle Braxton Jones missed the entire game seems questionable at best.

“We just get the job, get it, time it and time it in a two-minute operation,” Eberflus said.

Williams limped with an ankle injury but said he would be fine.

“It’s not my decision,” Williams said. “You fight until the end of the game if you’re in the game. Otherwise, the coach makes that decision and you have to come to terms with it and figure out the next steps.”

The Bears are now 3-18 against Eberflus on the road and 4-17 when giving him credit for the win in London when they were officially the home team.

They’ll be back home for what’s best described as the biggest game of the year against New England, not because it can stave off a three-game skid, but because losing to another bad team at home is another game to bounce back from. Since Eberflus became coach, there will be many calls for a season-long dismissal.

The only positive thing was that by the end of the whole Stevenson situation no one cared. He didn’t start on a penalty for a Hail Mary pass last week, but had to play because substitute Terell Smith injured his ankle and joined Andrew Billings (pectoral), Darnell Wright (knee) and Jaylon Jones ( shoulder) in the game. left the game due to injuries.

Twitter: BearsOnSI